Dear Parents & Guardians,
We have all just completed our first month back at school. The children have really settled back into the routine of school life & the teachers are really happy with the progress the students have made so far.
I would like to bring to your attention some recent & upcoming events in the school.

Staff: A warm welcome to all our staff who have returned to school this month. We are delighted to have Ms Olivia Flynn (who is teaching support LSRT a post shared with Ardrahan National School) & Ms Sarah Leneghan, (who will be covering Principal Release Days & LSRT) back teaching with us again this year. First year Froebel student, Chantelle Prendergast, will be assisting in the Infant room on Mondays for 6 weeks starting next Monday. Chantelle will then be doing a 3 week teaching practice placement in January.
Communication: As per last year our monthly newsletters will be emailed to you & they will also be available to access on the Schools website. Text-a-parent will still be used for more urgent messages. It is important that we have all the correct contact details. If your contact details have changed, please send a note to the class teacher in your child’s homework diary with the updated contact details.
School Photos: County Photos were in the school on Friday 23rd September 2021. The proofs of the photos & the order forms will be delivered to the school shortly. We will send out the proofs with your child & if you are interested in getting the photos you can go online or return the order form to the school on the date provided on the proofs.

Healthy Eating: At this time every year we take the opportunity to remind parents of our School’s Healthy Eating Policy. Children are asked to bring healthy lunches each day. A small treat is permitted on Fridays.
Seesaw: We will continue to use Seesaw as a remote learning platform this year. If you would like further information on Seesaw please go to www.seesaw.com. Thanks to Ms Cusack for all the work she has done to have this up & running for us again this year.
Wellness Wednesday: As part of our whole school policy on Wellness we will be continuing with Wellness Wednesday on the last Wednesday of every month. Throughout the day the children will participate in mindfulness activities organised by the class teacher. There will be no homework for the children to do that evening. Our first Wellness Wednesday was last Wednesday 28th of September.
Buddy Bench: On our school playground there is one of our picnic benches painted in multi-colours. This bench is for children to sit on if they are looking for someone to play with at break-time. We would ask you to remind your children to look for someone who might be sitting there & to tell your children to sit there if they would like someone to play with.
Friendship week: The 6th class children will be organising activities to celebrate Friendship week this week from Monday 3rd -7th of October. As part of Friendship week this year the 6th class children are organising a Carnival day on Friday 7th October. The children do not have to wear their uniforms & the organisers would like the children to wear bright coloured clothes if they have them.
Maths Week: Maths Week will run from Monday 17th October to Friday 21st October. This is always an enjoyable week for the children. As children will not be getting Maths homework that week we would ask that you give them the opportunity to use Maths in the Environment for e.g. estimating shopping bills, using measures when cooking, cost of petrol/diesel per litre, identifying shapes & looking at numbers on road signs or in the home. As part of Maths Week this year we have invited the LEGO workshop company Bricks4Kidz to come on Thursday 20th of October to do a Maths workshop with all classes. It costs €5 per child. We will send a reminder about payment closer to the time.

Clothes Collection: There will be a Schools fundraising Clothes collection on Thursday 17th of November. We would be grateful for your support. Bags of clothing can be left outside the front of the school from Wednesday evening 16th November.

Hurling & Camogie Coaching: Lauren Solan schools coach has been coaching children from 3rd-6th for a 4-week block. We will have access to schools coaching again later in the year for an 8-week block. We hope to let the other classes benefit from the coaching then.
Mini-7s Hurling/Camogie/Gaelic football: It is great that the Cuman na mBunscol Mini-7s tournaments are being held again this year. Our camogie blitz was held last Wednesday 28th of September in St.Thomas’ GAA grounds. The girls did really well & enjoyed a great day’s camogie. Thanks to Ms Hayes for preparing the team & organising the blitz on the day. The boys Mini-7s hurling is taking place this Wednesday 5th October in St Thomas’ GAA grounds starting at 10am. We have also entered a boy’s football team & that blitz is being held this Friday 7th October in Leitrim GAA grounds.
Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal: Leaflets for this very worthy cause will be sent home with each child this week. Return date for the shoeboxes is Tuesday 8th of November.
IT Investment: As part of our Digital strategy we have invested in an Interactive Smart board for the school. All classes will have access to the board.
Bun & Biscuit Day: Bun & Biscuit day in 3rd & 4th class is Friday 28th of October. Parents of these classes are invited in for a cup of tea & treats from 1:30pm.
Science Week: Science week is from 14th-18th of November. The children from 3rd-6th class will be travelling into the Galway Aquarium to complete science experiments & get a tour of the Aquarium.

Reminder dates:
Mid-Term Break: Monday 31st Oct – Friday 4th November
Parent teacher Meetings- Tuesday 15th Wednesday 16th

Thanks & Gratitude’s: For the last number of weeks a huge amount of work has gone in behind the scenes in order to open the school. I would like to thank the Board of Management & Staff for all the help & support they have given. I would like to thank Steve Rowe our caretaker for the work he did over the summer months. School Secretary Christina has always been available to assist with any administration work.
If you have any further queries in relation to any of the above, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours Sincerely
Francis O’Connor
Principal